Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE)

Robyn Cooper
Research and Evaluation Scientist

Office: E005B Lagomarcino

Phone: 515-294-3947

Website:

Robyn serves as a Program Coordinator II for RISE. In this role, she utilizes her skills and knowledge as a social scientist on a number of evaluation, assessment, and research projects in higher education and PK-12 environments.

Robyn received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Iowa State University in December 2005, where she received a Graduate College Research Excellence award for her dissertation - Minority Stress and the Well-Being of Sexual Minority College Students Viewed through the Lens of a (bio)Ecological Model of Human Development. Her research focuses on the concept of minority stress and its impact on marginalized and underrepresented students who face systemic, institutional, family, and individual issues that both directly and indirectly affect the success of their education. If a student's well-being is chronically distressed the probability of a successful education experience is considerably reduced. She is also interested in personal epistemology and its affect on the holistic development of students, and the conceptualization and execution of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in higher education.

Currently, she teaches both quantitative and qualitative research courses for the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS), as well as serving on graduate Program of Study (POS) Committees.

Courses currently teaching:
ResEv 552 - Basic Educational Statistics
ResEv 580 - Qualitative Research Methodologies
ResEv 680 - Critical Issues in Interpretive Methodology

Courses taught:
HgEd 577 - Campus Environments
HgEd 578 - Students in American Higher Education

Prior to her work at RISE and with the ELPS department, Robyn worked in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and prior to that as a NCAA Division I men's and women's swimming coach at UNLV for eight seasons.

Robyn also holds a M.Ed. in Health Promotion and a B.S. in Management Information Systems. She is active in several professional organizations including the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She also serves as a commissioner for the City of Ames - Human Relations Commission.